The NecromancerJason Owen Black presents

a character class for use with

the black hackdeveloped by David Black

The Necromancer © 2016 Jason Owen Black

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Jason Owen Black is a Seattle, Washington based game designer and writer. He has a master’s degree in American history, and a graduate certificate in gender studies. Visit him at jasonowenblack.com or follow him on twitter @owenstreetpress

featuring art by Luigi Castellani

The NecromancerStarting HP: d4+4HP Per Level/Resting: 1d4Weapons & Armor: Daggers and StaffAttack Damage: 1d4 / 1 Unarmed or Improvising

Undead ServantThe Necromancer can use a special ritual to create an undead servant. This servant can fight for the necromancer, carry items, and assist with basic tasks. It is intelligent enough to understand directions from its master, but cannot talk.

The servant has HD equal to the necromancer’s level, and rolls HP when it is created using d8’s. If reduced to 0 HP, the servant is immediately destroyed, and the necromancer can create a new one after 24 hours, following a 1 hour ritual. A servant which takes damage but is not destroyed regains HP at a rate of 1d8 per day.

The servant uses the necromancer’s Intelligence to undertake melee attack tests (it cannot make ranged attacks), and the necromancer’s Wisdom to make any defensive tests. It has an effective Strength of 10 for the purposes of carrying items. It can only be banished by a cleric whose level is higher than the necromancer’s.

Starting at 3rd level, a servant created with this ability is intelligent enough to talk, and knows any languages that it knew in life, as well as one additional language the necromancer speaks, chosen during the ritual. Starting at 5th level, the servant is intelligent enough to offer advice to the necromancer, providing advantage on Intelligence tests relevant to its knowledge (GM discretion).

Leveling UpRoll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for INT or WIS.

Necromantic SpellcastingNecromancers can cast a number of Necromancer Spells per day, and use the Daily Conjurer Spells table.

SpellbookNecromancers start with a large spellbook containing a total of d4 + 2 spells from the Level 1 and Level 2 Necromancer Spell list.

The necromancer is loved by few and feared by many. She is knowledgeable in the dark forces of death, and willing to manipulate those forces to her advantage. Necromancers animate the dead as servants, treat with those undead intelligent enough to teach them more about the mysteries of death, and aspire to the peak of undeath itself: lichdom.

Necromancers are often evil, but that doesn’t mean that players can’t, or won’t, play them. If you’re running an evil campaign, or one of your players wants an evil option, the necromancer might be right for you. On the other hand, player characters have free will, and just because they’re a necromancer doesn’t mean they have to be evil. Maybe they know so much about the undead because they study them looking for ways to defeat them.

The necromancer is also a good choice for small parties, as the class has some decent spellcasting abilities, and can also create an undead servant, which is best used for combat in the early game, but by the mid-point in the necromancer’s career can also provide counsel and serve as an advisor. They also excel at dealing with the undead, which are popular minions for the kind of villains who lurk about in dank crypts and lost temples.

Necromancers adventure to ferret out lost bits of lore, to better understand the undead and death itself, and to grow in power. They also adventure for loot because, like everybody else, they can benefit from the power and resources that glittering gold can buy. They tend to fall in with rough and tumble dungeon delving types because finding people to work with necromancers in the “civilized world” can be pretty difficult. Adventurers are used to exciting smells and dangers of the dungeon, so what’s one more smell? Or one more danger?

What’s in this BookThis book contains a complete class for The Black Hack system. On the column to the right you’ll find all of the information you need to make a necromancer and level them up, including how their undead servant works.

On the following page you’ll find a complete spell list for the necromancer, which not only reprints spells from The Black Hack, but also includes 15 new spells (marked with an *) just for the necromancer class.

The Necromancer Spell List1st level

*Chill Touch: Touched target takes 1d6 cold damage.Detect Evil: Everything Nearby that is evil glows for 5 minutes.Detect Magic: Everything Nearby that is magic glows for 5 minutes.*Fear: 2d4 Nearby creatures flee for 1 hour.Light: Create dim light from a Nearby spot or object for 1 hour. Protection from Evil/Good: Advantage on all harmful tests from an Evil/Good source for 1 hour.*Rebuke Undead: 4d6 HD “worth” of undead creatures ignore the necromancer and allies for 1hour. Sleep: Puts 4d6 HD “worth” of beings asleep for 8 hours.

2nd levelDarkness: Creates darkness covering a Nearby area that blocks all types of vision for 1 hour.*Lesser Animate Dead: Create 1d4 Skeletons/Zombies with HD/level, from Nearby bodies.*Ray of Enfeeblement: A nearby target reduces its damage die by one step for 1 hour.*Paralysis: Choose a Nearby target and test INT, if a pass it cannot move for 1 min.

3rd levelDarkvision: See in absolute darkness for 10 minutes/level.Dispel Magic: Removes a Nearby magical effect caused by a spell.Read Languages/Magic: Read all languages and magic for 10 minutes.*Rotting Blood: Choose a Nearby target and test INT, if a pass it has disadvantage on all STR and CON tests for 1 hour/level. Speak with Dead: Ask a Nearby corpse 3 questions.*Vampiric Touch: Touch a target and deal 1d4 damage/level, and gain half that as HP.

4th level*Command Undead: 4d6 HD “worth” of undead follow your commands for 1 hour. Greater Protection from Evil/Good: Nearby allies gain 6 temp AP against good or evil creatures for 10 minutes.*Incorporeal Form: You can only be harmed by magical weapons or spells, and your attacks ignore armor that is not magical for 1 hour. Remove Curse: Removes a curse from a Nearby target.*Symbol of Pain: Draw an evil symbol on a surface, and any Nearby creature takes 1d6 damage each time it looks at the symbol.

5th level

Animate Dead: Creates 2d4 Skeletons/Zombies with HD/level, from nearby bodies.Coudkill: Anyone with less than 5HD that touches it must test INT or be Out of Action. Cloud lasts 1 hour.Finger of Death: Choose a Nearby target and test INT, if a pass the target is Out of Action.Plague: Test INT for all Nearby targets, they lose 2d8 HP for the next 1d6 turns.Quest: Force a Nearby creature to follow an order.Raise Dead: Return a Nearby willing target to live, which has died within the last 7 days.

6th levelAnti-Magic Shell: Creates a Nearby zone around the caster which blocks all magic.Death Spell: 2d8 Nearby targets with 7HD or fewer die.False Life: Double your maximum HP for 1 hour*Withering Ray: Choose a target and test INT, if a pass it’s STR and CON are reduced to 4 each for 1 hour.*Wave of Exhaustion: All Nearby targets reduce their damage die by 2 steps for 1 hour.

7th level*Grave Walk: Teleport to any gravesite you have seen. You can teleport to a gravesite that you know of, but have not seen, by passing an INT test. If you fail, you appear at a random grave site.Power Word, Kill: A Nearby target with 50HP or fewer dies and cannot be resurrected.Restoration: Restore all of a target’s ability scores to their normal score.*Rite of Lichdom: Make an INT test, on a pass you die and become a lich. Your character is now an NPC controlled by the GM. On a natural 20 you die and become a zombie with HD equal to your level.

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